Luxor

Bright and early start at an attempt at cooler weather, not very successful as we were sweating within the hour.

Quick stop at Colossi of Memnon, a mortuary temple with massive statues. It was beautiful watching the hot air balloons taking flight.

Then we headed to the Valley of Kings, a short golf cart ride to the start of the tombs. It’s a burial ground for the pharaohs on the West Bank of the Nile, east was for sunrise and current life. The west for the setting sun and afterlife and never would they meet! 

There are over 60 tombs in there and more are still being discovered. We went into three of them, the decorations depicting the afterlife are well preserved. They spent a lot of time ensuring their afterlife would be good one as it was meant to be for eternity. It was also a great spot for robbers, all the amazing jewellery waiting to be plucked.

Next stop the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir al-Bahari, its made in the cliffs with caves and tombs surrounding it. She became a pharaoh and is depicted as a man. Most of her portraits have been defaced by her stepson who took over the throne so not much seen of her. It has been restored quite extensively and is a ginormous structure. 

That was the end of our tour with our guide, he has been wonderful source of stories, might or might not have been exaggerated but very entertaining.

Rest of the day was sitting in the air conditioned rooms to escape the sweltering heat. As everyone wrote their journals it made me realise how much we have learnt about Egyptian Mythology, the kids drew some beautiful depictions of their days. 

We ventured out for dinner by the river, we got a taxi ride with the driver having his two little boys in the car too, a new experience for the kids. Also managed our first soft serves in 6 months! 

Jeevan will be happy to escape the constant harassment by the salespeople , you cannot walk a meter before being offered something - Egyptian Ferrari (horse carriage ride), Felucca cruise, souvenirs, food and more.